By Jonny Bakes
It’s often the case that you can listen to the leading single (or singles) for an album and get a pretty good idea of what the rest of the album will sound like. But then there are other albums that change directions more times than the ÜK Government that you’re left constantly wondering what will happen next and find yourself unable to pin it down to a distinct genre. And that’s exactly how I felt when I launched myself into the results of Austin Taft digging out his ‘Skeletons’.
Austin Taft is the very definition of a one man band based out of Colorado Springs who weaves together music that can be pretty mind bending. I’ve seen it described as “prog-but-not-quite” and that’s quite possibly the best description for the soundtrack of Austin Taft. Boasting four previous releases, all of which have pretty fantastic album artwork to accompany them, ‘Skeletons’ storms in at lucky number five to try and blow you away with the intricate melodies and a seriously varied set of influences that’ll keep you guessing all the way through.
So, what does ‘Skeletons’ sound like? Well, let’s try and unpick this mindfuck of an album to try and bring you somewhat of a clear idea. There’s definitely a pretty strong influence from Dein Townsend shining through on multiple occasions, sometimes you’ll also pick up a faint hint of Animals as Leaders but then there’s also times where I was reminded of Wednesday 13 and even a bit of Pearl Jam going on. Each song really is something pretty unique and you could be forgiven for thinking that you’re listening to a compilation album. But one thing that is pretty clear is that Austin Taft is one hell of a talented dude to be churning out this hour long musical rollercoaster on his own!
The album opens with title track ‘Skeletons’ which makes for a pretty odd combination to get you started, so I guess you can say that it starts as it means to go on! It bursts into action with a fuzzy bassline and sliding guitars that increase in pitch until Austin launches into some aggressive shouting vocals. This leads into a thrash/heavy punk riff to accompany the vocals that results in something that sounds a lot like Wednesday 13 which ticks all the right boxes for me! But then this leads into the next track ‘Endless Sky’ which is an entirely different experience… This one starts with a very prog-sounding noodly riff that ends up leading into a song that flits between this and aggressive shouted vocals, it’s almost like the mid-ground between Strapping Young Lad and Devin’s solo stuff at this point!
There was so much to unpack with this album that even after many play-throughs I still didn’t manage to really appreciate everything that’s going on! It’s certainly an album that will encourage your brain to stay switched on so that you don’t miss any of the wild swings. So, if you like your albums to be a little more predictable then this might not be the one for you! Whereas if you want to musically nerd out at the sheer talent and versatility of Austin Taft then ‘Skeletons’ is certainly an effective way to do it!
- ‘Skeletons’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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